Product Description
Tragic Indifference is the gut-wrenching account of the biggest product liability case in history: the Ford-Firestone fiasco, where delaminating Firestone tires caused Ford Explorers to lose control and crash at highway speeds. The result was a massive recall, consumer panic, and congressional hearings. It all culminated in a lawsuit that would become a watershed for all future auto safety lawsuits.In February 2000, reports began to surface of an alarming number of … More >>
Tragic Indifference : One Man’s Battle with the Auto Industry over the Dangers of SUVs
I did my best to give this book a fair chance, but the author has written one of the most tedious pieces of nonfiction that I have ever read. It’s too bad, since the subject matter that he deals with is very interesting and pertinent. One of several problems is that the story is presented in a very cartoonish manner – one of good versus evil. The characters are flat and unidimensional, about as believable as those in an episode of Batman.
Rating: 1 / 5
This book is written 100% from the perspective (and everything is perspective) of Trial Lawyers. Sad what passes for “history” these days. Interesting read – even an important read – but the spin in this book creates enough wind to cool a medium sized office building. Read, enjoy, but be smart enough to know that (just like the Da Vinci Code) you are getting a small helping of history, and a very generous serving of pure Grishamesque yarn.
Rating: 2 / 5
Penenberg’s account of Ford and Firestone and the battle to illuminate their malfeasance is driven by a transparent passion for justice. It is impossible not to become angered by the equally transparent desire of both corporations to put profits ahead of the wellbeing of the people who were killed or maimed by their products. It’s not a new story in that regard, but this one is told so well, with such thorough research and excellent writing, that it ranks with the best of the genre. This is a fine fine book.
Rating: 5 / 5
It is heart rending to read about the lives torn apart in these horrible accidents. Mr. Penenberg writes effectively and persuasively about the pain, loss, and struggle of those injured as well as the pain and struggle of their loved ones. However, his emotional style, while effective in producing sympathetic emotions, in the end undermines the case he is trying to make. Not that the case is necessarily wrong. It is just that he does not really prove it beyond an emotional conviction.
He does not use his journalistic detachment to let both sides speak and let the preponderance of the evidence fall where it may. The author wants to convince us that Ford is wrong (and I am not saying they are or aren’t) and that the lawyers are good. A couple of examples about the lawyers: Early in the book he introduces Tab Turner has having a private jet, but not a flashy one – the author calls it a Plymouth with wings. A few pages later he reveals it to be a Cessna Citation. This is a very nice jet and Turner is a very very rich man who for all his protestations of not caring about fees gathers them by the truckload. And it isn’t until the second half of the book that we are shown the fighting over fees and the skullduggery in getting the client to unwittingly sign a new contingency fee arrangement without her healthy caregivers around. It is sickening.
But we all love our own lawyers when they help and protect us (as we should), and we think the other guy’s lawyers are scum (unless they lose). That is the way it goes. And friends eventually become targets of suits in the name of justice. Again, it is hard to take, but it happens.
I believe that the book would have been stronger if he would have actually presented both sides of this issue fairly and completely. While the emotions of the case would then be a bit more confused, the reader would be better equipped to make a fair and clearer judgment about the case rather than the one the author wants you to make.
We all despise corporate decisions that expose people to death and injury to save a few dollars or because of carelessness and callous disregard. But we also despise attorneys making huge fees from tragically injured clients and stepping on endless numbers of people, justice, and truth to claim those fees. It isn’t that this is a bad book. Rather, it could have been stronger by being more objective. Almost certainly, Ford and Firestone would not have been very forthcoming for interviews. However, when I was reading I kept hoping for more complete information about the accidents from multiple perspectives. The book is worth reading if you are interested in this story, but I could have used less direction from the author on how I was supposed to feel and more information about the facts – not just the defense lawyers’ arguments.
Rating: 3 / 5
Penenberg deserves congratulations for taking a story that could have been as dull as a stretch of Kansas highway and telling it so well it’s hard to put the book down. The facts are all there, but the author has taken the time to lay them out artfully and judiciously. This has been an entertaining and elucidating read.
Rating: 5 / 5